CSM Cantiga 171 Lyrics: Santa María grandes faz miragres e saborosos †Cantiga 171In both [E] and [T], this cantiga has a total of five lines which are missing a metrical syllable, but the usual fixes of employing diaeresis or substituting a longer synonym only work in two cases. For the others, to avoid the absolute last resort of drawn out short vowels, I have taken the liberty of adding common filler words—i (adv.), o (pron.) and óra (adv.)—as these do not significantly alter the meaning, and could plausibly have been omitted by scribal accident. See the individual footnotes below for details.

Standard spelling

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i viron un río correr†CSM 171:25Here I have added the word i (= "there") which seems to be the least intrusive word that could fill the metrical gap. I have placed it at the beginning of the line for two reasons. First, it seems the best fit for the natural spoken rhythm of the words. Second, the fact that it then follows an identical but stressed vowel in assí makes it perhaps more plausible that the scribe could have overlooked it.

8 e

26

e eles foron coitosos

7' B

27

de passar; mas foron perder

8 e

28

o fill' os malavegosos.

7' B

Santa María grandes faz...

Stanza IV

29

Ca a madre, que o trager

8 c

30

en un rocín i' ante si,

8 d

31

con el no río foi caer,

8 c

32

como o contaron a mi,†CSM 171:32In this line I have inserted the word o on the model of CSM 124:4e o contaron a mi, CSM 183:25que o contaron a mi, and similar formulaic expressions. Accidental scribal omission of this o after the same vowel in como seems quite likely.

8 d

33

e ouve a desamparar

8 e

34

o fillo; e os astrosos

7' B

35

fillaron-se muit' a chorar

8 e

36

ambos come perdidosos.

7' B

Santa María grandes faz...

Stanza V

37

Muito o per foron buscar

8 c

38

pelas ribas, com' entendí,

8 d

39

mas nono podéron achar,

8 c

40

e tornar-se quiséra d' i

8 d

41

o padre; mas ela dizer

8 e

42

lle foi: “Pois non preguiçosos

7' B

43

fomos, vaamos óraseer†CSM 171:43óra seems to be the most neutral filler word here, and although adding two new syllables requires synaeresis in seer to compensate, the latter is very common and the result feels quite natural.

Eno caminno se meter†CSM 171:45Here it is possible to resolve the missing metrical syllable by expanding no to eno, on the model of CSM 138:20fórono meter // eno caminno que devia tẽer.

8 c

46

foron, dizend' ela: “A ti

8 d

47

vou, Virgen, que mi acorrer†CSM 171:47This is a very unusual case where the unstressed clitic mi does not combine with the following vowel (via synalepha) to form a diphthong.

8 c

48

quéras do fillo que perdí.”

8 d

49

E pois chegou ao logar,

8 e

50

con sospiros amargosos,

7' B

51

viü séu fill' ant' o altar†CSM 171:51Diaeresis occurs in viu more often than in any other word, and is therefore a good resolution for this line's metrical shortfall.

8 e

.on

52

vivo. E muit' omildosos

7' B

Santa María grandes faz...

Stanza VII

53

Loores déu, se Déus m' ampar,

8 c

54

aa Virgen. “Ca recebí”,

8 d

55

diss' ela, “o que demandar

8 c

56

te fui sempr', e nunca falí;

8 d

57

e porên querrei retraer

8 e

58

ontr' os téus mui grorïosos

7' B

59

miragres e fazer saber

8 e

60

este dos maravillosos.”

7' B

Santa María grandes faz...

Footnotes

In both [E] and [T], this cantiga has a total of five lines which are missing a metrical syllable, but the usual fixes of employing diaeresis or substituting a longer synonym only work in two cases. For the others, to avoid the absolute last resort of drawn out short vowels, I have taken the liberty of adding common filler words—i (adv.), o (pron.) and óra (adv.)—as these do not significantly alter the meaning, and could plausibly have been omitted by scribal accident. See the individual footnotes below for details.

Here I have added the word i (= "there") which seems to be the least intrusive word that could fill the metrical gap. I have placed it at the beginning of the line for two reasons. First, it seems the best fit for the natural spoken rhythm of the words. Second, the fact that it then follows an identical but stressed vowel in assí makes it perhaps more plausible that the scribe could have overlooked it.

In this line I have inserted the word o on the model of CSM 124:4e o contaron a mi, CSM 183:25que o contaron a mi, and similar formulaic expressions. Accidental scribal omission of this o after the same vowel in como seems quite likely.

Oxford CSM Database record

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When planning a concert or recording, I would recommend that you use (and credit) my more pragmatic texts and supporting
materials in the preparation of your performance, but that you request permission from the Oxford database team to
reproduce (and credit) their own critically edited texts in your programme or liner notes, as these adhere to
stricter criteria that keep them closer to the original sources, and undoubtedly have the greater academic authority.

Metrical summary

Refrain

8 7' 8 7'

Stanzas

8 8 8 8 8 7' 8 7'

Rhyme

ABAB / cdcdeBeB

R

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

A

aʣ

B

ozos

c

aɾ

eɾ

aɾ

eɾ

aɾ

eɾ

aɾ

d

i

e

eɾ

aɾ

eɾ

aɾ

eɾ

aɾ

eɾ

Estimated performance times

Average syllables / min.

Time

Very slow

50

14:04

Slow

100

7:02

Medium

150

4:41

Fast

200

3:31

Very fast

250

2:48

These are very approximate total times for a full sung (or spoken) performance of all stanzas with all repeats of the refrain.
Note that the speed is in average syllables per minute, and no particular mensural interpretation is assumed.
More ornamented music will reduce the syllabic speed considerably. Remember also to add time for instrumental preludes,
interludes and postludes.

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